In Brief

Staff Reports

INDIANAPOLIS GAY TEEN EXPELLED FOR DEFENDING HIMSELF WITH STUN GUN AT SCHOOL

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- 17-year-old High School student Darnell "Dynasty" Young was informed late Monday that he has been expelled from Arsenal Tech High School in Indianapolis until January 7, 2013. Young said that classmates repeatedly cursed at him in the school hallways, taunted him with homophobic slurs, following him home from his bus stop, and threatening to beat him up culminating in an incident on April 16 as he walked between class buildings during a passing period, and 6 students surrounded him, called him names, cursed and threatened to beat him up.
Young, who had been given a Stun Gun by his mother to protect himself weeks earlier, said he pulled out the stun gun, pointed it in the air and fired it so it would make the noise, causing the students to retreat.

But minutes later, school police officers caught up with Young at his next class, handcuffed him, and found the stun gun — Young was suspended and recommended for expulsion.

On Monday Young and his mother, Chelisa Grimes, were told that an independent arbitrator who presided over an expulsion hearing last Wednesday decided to expel him until January 7, 2013. He cannot finish his junior year and he will miss the first semester of his senior year.

"I couldn’t believe that they did it," Grimes said. "They really kicked him out." Grimes and Young can appeal to the Indianapolis Public Schools school board and the courts if necessary, but Grimes said they're still weighing their options. Young said he plans to get his GED and go to college, reports The Indianapolis Star.

Young told the paper that he has been overwhelmed by the support he has received. There will be a rally just prior to the Indianapolis Public Schools school board meeting May 15 to raise awareness about Young's case and to pressure the school board to take more steps to prevent bullying. School Board member Samantha Adair-White has called for an independent investigation into the incident, but she said last week she's not sure if enough school board members will support her request to proceed. The spokeswoman for IPS issued a statement that read in part: [...] "While the district does not condone bullying, it also does not allow weapons to be brought on our school campuses for any reason. Students who violate this rule will be held accountable."

GALLUP POLL SAYS HALF OF AMERICANS SUPPORT LEGAL SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Fifty percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages -- down slightly from 53% last year, but marking only the second time in Gallup's history of tracking this question that at least half of Americans have supported legal same-sex marriage. Forty-eight percent say such marriages should not be legal.

These results -- based on Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 3-6 -- come at a time when Vice President Joe Biden's remarks on "Meet the Press" Sunday have at least temporarily brought the issue of same-sex marriage back into the news spotlight. Biden said he was "absolutely comfortable" with the idea that same-sex couples and heterosexual couples are "entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties." President Barack Obama, however, has stopped short of saying that he favors legalizing same-sex marriage, while U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan also endorsed same-sex marriage equality during an interview Monday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe programme.

The issue of same-sex marriage sharply divides the American public along political and religious lines. Almost two-thirds of Democrats support legalizing it, compared with 57% of independents and 22% of Republicans.

Poll Results: